Welcome return to Narnia land

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)
Certified: U
Duration: 115 minutes
Directed by: Michael Apted
Starring: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter, Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson and Simon Pegg
KRS release

It came as quite a surprise to me when Disney dropped the Narnia franchise so quickly. The first film The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe had cashed in over $700 million and was quite a sensation. The less recognisable sequel Prince Caspian was more serious and made “only” about $420 million. But the film was more serious in its message and approach and was quite a finely-crafted adventure.

Disney marketed the film badly and budget negotiations with Walden Entertainment on the third film were not handled well. The result is that while Prince Caspian is the least well-known book in the series, the Dawn Treader is one of the series highlights and one of the most fantastical, with the book being probably the closest to The Lord of The Rings in this aspect.

With 20th Century Fox having the rights in hand, it seems that they have a winner.

Under Michael Apted’s direction, The Dawn Treader is quite an elegant and wonderful flight of imagination, bringing together beautiful vistas, exciting storytelling and fantastical creatures that jump out of the screen!

With a restrained hand, the English director who brought us the likes of Gorillas In The Mist (1988), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Amazing Grace (2006) has made a very classical style of childdren’s film that also holds a strong appeal to an adult audience.

The Dawn Treader takes place one year after the events of Prince Caspian. World War II is still raging on and the two young children of the Pevensie family are staying with their relatives at Cambridge. The oldest of the four siblings, Peter and Susan, are living in America, a fact that makes the younger two, Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes), quite envious. Even more so because at their relatives’ they have to put up with overbearing cousin Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter).

When a picture depicting a ship in a storm starts leaking water, the three children are catapulted into the land of Narnia. They are thrown into the water near the only Narnian ship we know about, The Dawn Treader.

Meanwhile, Caspian (Ben Barnes) is leading the ship, having recently been crowned King of Narnia. On board is a crew made up of humans and minotaurs and also a swashbuckling, chattering, sword-wielding rat called Reepicheep (Simon Pegg).

The quest is to find the lost seven lords of Narnia, one which will take the ship through uncharted waters, face off a deadly mist, battle with dragons, find enchanted islands, follow a blue star, face tempests and mysterious seas and also deadly sea serpents, among other matters.

This film stands alone for those who have not yet seen the previous ones, but those who have followed the C.S. Lewis saga will find much more delight. The film is encapsulated with a serious theme, yet in the character of Eustace and Reepicheep it also has enough comic relief to keep things chugging along with a smile. Will Poulter brings quite a bit of wonderful acting and adds another dimension to what on paper is just a spoilt brat.

The film has a sense of fun that seemed missing from the second film. It has its dark moments, especially the moments when our young heroes step on deserted islands.

The special effects are at times spectacular, two cases in point being the final battle and also the part where our heroes find Aslan. However there is a bit of dodginess in some of the CGI, especially in the scenes of the mist surrounding the innocents who are sacrificed.

The film has an interesting theme in the sense that it follows the young heroes across moments where temptation is rampant. It also has several messages that it wants to put across, messages that are relevant to the young and old alike.

The Voyage of The Dawn Treader is a perfect family-entertainment outing in the sense that it has something for all, has a cute aura to it, coupled with a swashbuckling sense and high fantasy setting that is just what a Christmas matinee outing should be like!